Weekend in Fights! October 13th Edition

This Weekend in Fights! (October 3rd, 2012) featured the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of MMA Anderson Silva at UFC 153 in Brazil, Bellator 76 in Windsor, UFC veterans at Fight Festival 32 in Finland and at Made For War in Colorado.

Bellator 76 kicked off the weekend in Windsor, Ontario at the Caesars Windsor Hotel & Casino on Friday night. The event was headlined by Bellator’s last remaining superstar and former Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in his potential final bout with the promotion considering his contract has expired. After taking a little bit of punishment from the get go, Alvarez was able to knockout his long time rival Patricky “Pitbull” Freire with a head kick followed by punches with six seconds remaining in the bout. Alvarez’ Bellator future is uncertain if he will resign with the promotion where he went 9-1 considering following the bout UFC president Dana White tweeted to him: “”Congrats bro. Let’s talk.”

Bellator 76 also featured the opening round of the season seven lightweight tournament. Rad Martinez, Wagnney Fabiano, Mike Richman, and Shahbulat Shamhalaev all punched their tickets into the semifinals. Martinez went the distance with the much more experienced Nazareno Malegari, beating him on all three judges score cards 30-27. Meanwhile 38-year-old Fabiano submitted Akop Stepanyan with an arm bar in the first round. Both Richman and Shamhalaev picked up first round KO/TKO victories in their bouts. Richman knocked out Jeremey Spoon with a kick and punch combo, and Shamhalaev TKO’d Cody Bollinger with 11-seconds remaining in the opening frame. (Full Bellator 76 event results below.)

As the UFC 2012 injury plague continued, two members of Team BlackHouse stepped up to save UFC 153 when UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo was forced out of his title defense. Those two fighters were Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Anderson Silva. Not only did Silva step up and take the fight on short notice, but also stepped up in weight class to the Light Heavyweight division. Silva proved that beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is the best pound for pound fight of all time. Silva stood with his back against the cage, his hands at his hips in front of Stephan Bonnar and allowed Bonnar to strike him or attempt to strike him with his head movements. Bonnar clinched with Silva and was met with a devastating knee to the sternum that sent him crashing to the mat in agony. With Bonnar curled up on the canvas, Silva proceeded to pound away until the referee stopped the assault.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira displayed some beautiful “Nogueira Jiu-Jitsu” with a second round armbar submission of fellow Heavyweight competitor Dave Herman. Both fighters duked it out during the better part of the first two rounds where Herman almost saw himself knocked out for his efforts, but in the end it was Nogueira’s submission skills that concluded the bout in his first bout since his arm was broken 10-months prior.

Light Heavyweight prospect Glover Teixeira pounded Fabio Maldonado’s face into a distorted swelled up mess for two rounds. Maldonado was outclassed, but did connect with a huge right hand that many saw as changing the tides. However, the bout continued due to Teixeira’s strong chin and relentlessness. During the second bout the doctor’s entered the octagon to ensure the safe of Maldonado, but after the conclusion of the second round refused to allow him to continue, thus resulting in a TKO after two rounds.

Jon Fitch picked up his first win since his surprising knockout loss to Johny Hendricks in February, by handing Erick Silva his first ever “real” loss via unanimous decision. Fitch’s great wrestling, striking, submission offense and defense proved to be better over three rounds. Also on the card, Phil Davis handed Wagner Prado his first pro loss with an anaconda choke submission late in the second round. Former Middleweight competitor Demian Maia continued his successful Welterweight career with a first round rear-naked choke submission of Rick Story. Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner Rony Jason continues to be undefeated in the octagon and his picked up a TKO victory over Sam Sicilia in the third round. (Full UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar event results below.)

Fight Festival out of Finland held their 32nd event of Saturday at the Töölön Kisahalli in Helsinki, Finland. Headlining the event was UFC and Bellator veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida picked up a guillotine submission victory over Niko Puhakka in the third round. The Jackson’s MMA Welterweight scored his fourth straight victory since dropping two in the UFC and losing his Bellator debut. (Full Fight Festival 32 event results below.)

Made For War MMA promotion held their inaugural event at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock, Colorado on Saturday night. Two UFC veterans were featured on the card with Joe “Diesel” Riggs in the main event and TUF season 6 runner up Tommy Speer in the co-main event. Riggs knocked out Josh Cavan near the end of the first round to pick up his fourth straight victory. Tommy Speer added another loss to his skid, with two as his was on the receiving end of a TKO loss at the hands of Jeremy Kimball mid way through the second round. (Full Made For War 1 event results below.)

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